Nickel sensitivity and the course of atopic dermatitis in adulthood.

The course of dermatitis was followed in nickel-sensitive and nickel-negative atopic and non-atopic patients. Manifest dermatitis was seen in 70% of the nickel-allergic and in 64% of the nickel-negative female atopic dermatitis (AD) patients. Those atopic subjects who had minor symptoms in their teens suffered more from dermatitis if they had developed nickel allergy (p less than 0.025). Hands and the head region were the most common sites for current dermatitis in both groups.